Tag Archives: entente de principe

Breaking down the gains in PSAC’s Treasury Board settlement, and individual summaries of PA, EB, TC, and SV agreements

In the hours after reaching a deal with Treasury Board, PSAC shared with members the highlights of the wage increases and remote work language that were negotiated.

As PSAC prepares the ratification kits that contain the full details of the new agreements to share with you in the coming days, here are more details and clarification on the key improvements the union secured in this round of bargaining.

Please see the following page on the PSAC website for a breakdown of these gains.

Individual summaries

PSAC has also published summaries of each tentative agreement (PA, EB, TC, SV). Review them here:

FB Bargaining: Tentative Agreement Reached – Unanimous Recommendation by Bargaining Team

Today, our FB Bargaining Team reached a Tentative Agreement with the Treasury Board and CBSA for salary increases that greatly exceed those provided to all other federal law enforcement agencies for 2014-2018.

This significant victory came after four years of talks, two court challenges, a charter challenge, several unfair labour practice charges, the mobilization of thousands of members, two media campaigns and over a full week of non-stop negotiations.

The FB Bargaining Team unanimously recommends the ratification of this new agreement.

A full explanation of the new agreement, and a copy of the new language, will be provided over the coming weeks once it has been fully translated.

Highlights Of Our Tentative Agreement:

Duration of Agreement

The agreement is a four-year collective agreement with an expiration date of June 21, 2018.

Wage Settlement Details

For FB-03s our agreement provides for an overall pensionable increase of 17.5% to the job rate over 4 years.
By June 2017, FB-03 job rate is over $82,400.
- Effective June 21, 2014 – Increase to rates of pay: 1.25%
- Effective June 21, 2015 – Increase to rates of pay: 1.25%
- Effective June 21, 2016 – Restructure (harmonize FB-03 pay scale to match top 4 steps of CX-02 pay scale)
- Effective June 21, 2016 – Restructure (additional $2500 step to the maximum of FB-04 to FB-07 scales)
- Effective June 21, 2016 – 2.3% market adjustment for all groups and levels
- Effective June 21, 2016 – Non-Uniformed Officers Integrated Border Services Allowance from $1250 to $1750
- Effective June 21, 2016 – Restructure (Roll-in of harmonized Integrated Border Services Allowance for Uniformed and Non-Uniformed Officers)
- Effective June 21, 2016 – increase to rates of pay: 1.25%
- Effective June 21, 2017 – increase to rates of pay: 1.25%
All increases are retroactive.

These increases in salary greatly exceed increases provided to all other federal law enforcement agencies for 2014-2018.

Discipline

New protections ensuring Union representation in administrative and investigative meetings – this includes Professional Standards Investigations and Security Review Investigations.
New protections (consistent with RCMP) against employees being placed on investigatory leave without pay.
We also have a written commitment from Treasury Board that our union is to receive an official invite to consult on the Legal Indemnification Policy, consistent with the consultation that was conducted with the RCMP.

Other Items

New language that provides protections in the context on ‘H’ing.
Cash-out of compensatory time no longer at employer discretion.
New seniority rights for scheduling of part-time employees.
Requests for compressed work weeks can no longer be unreasonably denied.
New dog handler allowance consistent with what has been agreed to for other federal law enforcement personnel.
Increase of the overtime meal allowance from $10 to $12

Sick Leave

Our sick leave remains unchanged.
Any future enhancements to the regime would need to be negotiated and agreed to by both parties.

Other Notable Leave Improvements

Volunteer Day to be replaced with another Personal Day.
Expansion of the definition of family for whom an employee can access family-related responsibilities leave (FRRL) and the removal of the 7.5 hour cap on the use of FRRL for a number of situations.
The new Bereavement Leave Article includes an expansion of the definition of family and for the period of bereavement to be split into two installments. Leave for Personal Reason can now be taken in separate blocks

Workforce Adjustment Appendix

What we achieved represents the most significant improvements in workforce adjustment since it was first signed as an appendix into PSAC collective agreements in 1998.
Changes will reduce involuntary layoffs by allowing volunteers to come forward to leave the public service during times of workforce adjustment.
Employees will now have up to fifteen months to find an alternation match.
More union involvement, ensuring employees have the right to union representation during the process.
Improvements to the monetary provisions, including the education allowance and transition support measures.

These are only the highlights. More information will be forthcoming once we have all documentation translated.

There are no concessions in our new tentative agreement. That includes our rights provided for under Article 41 – Leave without pay for the care of family.

Again, our team unanimously recommends ratification of our new contract.

The FB Bargaining Team, from left to right: Chris Aylward (PSAC National Executive Vice-President), Morgan Gay (PSAC National Negotiator), Lauren Baert (BSO, Sarnia, ON), Charles Khoury (Senior Program Officer, HQ), Brea Lewis (BSO, Willow Creek, SK), Richard Sutcliffe (Inland Enforcement, Toronto, ON), Diane Lacombe (BSO, Trudeau Airport, Montreal), David-Alexandre Leblanc (PSAC Senior Research Officer), Joey Dunphy (BSO, Edmundston, NB), Dave VanHelvert (BSO, Fort Erie, ON), Jean-Pierre Fortin (CIU National President, BSO, Clarenceville, QC) (Absent – Brett Evans, BSO, Halifax Marine, NS).

TC Bargaining Team Reaches Tentative Agreement with Treasury Board

(Article updated Jan. 26)

PSAC and Treasury Board have reached a tentative agreement for the Technical Services (TC) Group, which covers more than 11,000 federal public service workers. The deal includes significant breakthroughs on “common issues,” such as sick leave and workforce adjustment, the details of which were hammered out by the common issues committee last December. The TC bargaining team was also able to make meaningful improvements to monetary compensation, enhancing existing allowances and creating new allowances for specific groups of members.

“I thank the bargaining team for all their hard work and dedication to the members of the TC group. It has been a long two years. They resisted concessions, and in the end, they were able to achieve something for everyone,” said PSAC National President Robyn Benson.

Common issues need to be implemented at all tables

The issues agreed to in December between the employer and the common issues committee, composed of members from all five Treasury Board tables, need to be accepted by each specific table. The TC bargaining team has formally accepted the work of the common issues committee, which covers sick leave and the workforce adjustment appendix.

Sick leave

The sick leave articles of our collective agreements will remain unchanged.
The parties have negotiated a Memorandum of Agreement to establish a Task Force to develop recommendations on measures to improve employee wellness and reintegration of employees.
Any future enhancements to the regime would need to be negotiated and agreed to by both parties.
PSAC’s four principles are included in the MOA: sick leave provisions will be contained in the collective agreement, provide for wage replacement, protect and grandfather sick leave banks, and will not be administered by a third-party provider. Any enhanced sick leave regime shall contain, at minimum, these four principles.

Workforce adjustment appendix

What we achieved represents the most significant improvements in workforce adjustment since it was first signed as an appendix into PSAC collective agreements in 1998.
Changes will reduce involuntary layoffs by allowing volunteers to come forward to leave the public service during times of workforce adjustment.
Employees will now have up to fifteen months to find an alternation match.
More union involvement, ensuring employees have the right to union representation during the process.
Limits to contracting out.
Improvements to the monetary provisions, including the education allowance and transition support measures.

Monetary gains

TC members will receive a 1.25 percent economic increase per year, over four years, as well as a 0.5 percent market adjustment in the third year. A signing bonus of $650 will be paid to those members who do not receive a group specific salary adjustment. Those group specific adjustments include:

Roll-in the remaining value of the terminable allowance to Appendix A-1 and an additional increment of four percent to the maximum rates of pay at all levels for Marine, Rail and Air Technical Inspectors, effective June 22, 2016.
Increases to the monies paid in Appendix W to EG and GT members working in shore-based positions at Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), effective June 22, 2016.
New allowance of $3,000 per year for Fishery Officers (GT-02 to GT-05), effective June 22, 2016.
New allowance of $3,000 per year for Enforcement and Wildlife Officers (GT-02 to GT-05) at ECCC, effective June 22, 2016.
New allowance of $3,000 year for Technical Inspectors (TI-03 to TI-07) employed at Measurement Canada, effective June 22, 2016.
New allowance of $3,000 for Labour Affairs Officers (LAO) at the TI-05 level, effective June 22, 2016.
New allowance of four percent for Search and Rescue Coordinators (GT-05) working at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC).
Additional increment of four percent to the maximum rate of pay of PI levels, effective June 22, 2016. Add the PI-CGC-07 rates of pay.
New allowance of $2,500 for EG-06 at Fleet Maintenance Facilities (FMF).

Additionally, the EG allowance contained in Appendix V will be rolled into the base rate of pay, effective June 22, 2016 and delete Appendix V. However, EG members who receive this roll-in and no other special measures above will be eligible for the $650 signing bonus.

Helping workers meet family demands

A committee will be established to look at childcare needs. Better family leave, including provisions for extended family, have also been negotiated. Significantly, the definition of family has been improved to include more family members. This means members can utilize relevant provisions of the collective agreement for more members of their family.

Other notable gains

New language has been included in the collective agreement to better protect members from being switched from day workers to shift workers, and vice-versa.
Travelling Time: the cap for travel in 34.04 has been increased to 15 hours, from 12.
The amounts paid under Appendix K for Diving Duty and Transfer at Sea have been improved.
Volunteer Leave has been included into Personal Leave, increasing the amount of time to two days, which can be split into smaller periods for ease of use.
The union and employer have signed a Memorandum of Understanding examining the comparability of EG work and compensation in the federal public service and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
We have a commitment to undertake occupational group structure review for the TC group and have new job evaluation standards completed by 2019.
Minor improvements to language on discipline and access to employee files.

The Memorandum of Understanding that established the Task Force on Mental Health in the workplace is also contained in this agreement. The mandate of the task force includes identifying ways to reduce and eliminate the stigma associated with mental health issues, improving communication on mental health challenges in the workplace, and implementing the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. The parties came to an agreement on the MOU earlier in the bargaining process, in 2015, and the task force has been hard at work ever since.

The TC Bargaining Team is unanimously recommending acceptance of this agreement. Further information will be made available to TC members in the near future.

Download: Summary of Tentative Agreement reached for the TC Group on January 21, 2017 [Bilingual PDF]

A version of this article was originally published on the PSAC website.

EB Bargaining Team Reaches Tentative Agreement with Treasury Board

(Article updated Jan. 26)

PSAC and Treasury Board have reached a tentative agreement for the Education and Library Science (EB) Group, which covers more than 900 federal public service workers. The deal includes significant breakthroughs on “common issues,” such as sick leave and workforce adjustment, the details of which were hammered out by the common issues committee last December. The EB team was also able to achieve market adjustments for every classification in the bargaining unit.

“This is yet another victory in what has been a very challenging set of negotiations with Treasury Board,” said PSAC National President Robyn Benson. “It is through the hard work and commitment of the members of our EB bargaining team, along with the steadfast support and solidarity from the bargaining unit members, that we were able to reach this agreement.”

Common issues need to be implemented at all tables

The issues agreed to in December between the employer and the common issues committee, composed of members from all five Treasury Board tables, need to be accepted by each specific table. EB is the second table to formally accept the work of the common issues committee, which covers sick leave and the workforce adjustment appendix.

Sick leave

The sick leave articles of our collective agreements will remain unchanged.
The parties have negotiated a Memorandum of Agreement to establish a Task Force to develop recommendations on measures to improve employee wellness and reintegration of employees.
Any future enhancements to the regime would need to be negotiated and agreed to by both parties.
PSAC’s four principles are included in the MOA: sick leave provisions will be contained in the collective agreement, provide for wage replacement, protect and grandfather sick leave banks, and will not be administered by a third-party provider. Any enhanced sick leave regime shall contain, at minimum, these four principles.

Workforce adjustment appendix

What we achieved represents the most significant improvements in workforce adjustment since it was first signed as an appendix into PSAC collective agreements in 1998.
Changes will reduce involuntary layoffs by allowing volunteers to come forward to leave the public service during times of workforce adjustment.
Employees will now have up to fifteen months to find an alternation match.
More union involvement, ensuring employees have the right to union representation during the process.
Limits to contracting out.
Improvements to the monetary provisions, including the education allowance and transition support measures.

Monetary gains

The agreement with the EB table contains significant improvements to monetary compensation for members. This includes a wage increase and a wage adjustment for all groups. The total compensation for all EB members amounts to a minimum increase of five-and-a-half per cent over the four years of the collective agreement, plus a $650 signing bonus. The wage increase is 1.25 per cent for each year, plus a 0.5 to four-per-cent market adjustments for 2016.

An appendix that provides a framework for working towards a national rate of pay for the ED-EST 12 month teachers has been added to the collective agreement. An allowance for EB members who work in Correctional Services Canada and more support for First Nations teachers have also been achieved.

Helping workers meet family demands

A committee will be established to look at childcare needs. Better family leave, including provisions that are more respectful and inclusive of Indigenous cultures, have also been negotiated.

Other notable gains

This agreement has language recognizing gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination.

Download: Summary of Tentative Agreement reached for the EB Group on January 21, 2017 [Bilingual PDF]

A version of this article was originally published on the PSAC website.